Medical Pet Advice.

[Shari]

So, I have a 12 year old miniature pincher. About 6 months ago we noticed him having trouble walking in his right front paw. Like he was slipping on it. Long story short my best friend was a vet tech and said he likely had nerve damage in his paw. She said my treatments would be surgery or doggie acupuncture (!?) Either way, not cheap.

Fast forward 6 months...and my OTHER (incredibly fucking stupid) dog chewed a hole in our back gate where our min pin proceeded to go through and got stuck (he's incredibly overweight) Now his back legs don't work either. But its hit and miss. He'll go all day without be able to move, and then he'll get up in the middle of the night and go outside to pee. He's good for about an hour before he can't move again. He doesn't appear to be in any pain because he doesn't yelp when we pick him up and hold him, but he cries when he's just laying there because I think he needs to go to the bathroom. When I carry him outside he wont go because he can't stand.

Anyway, I have an appointment with the vet today and I know its not going to be good. We can't afford a $2000 dog surgery (paying off a baby, remember?) and all I can think about is having to put him down 3 days before Christmas. I was wondering if there is ANYONE here with vet experience or animals with a similar issue that they can suggest before I go with putting him down. He's lived a really good full life for 12 years but this is the first animal I've had to consider putting down and its killing me.

[g++]

Leaving it on Killer Kittens door step seems like a winning strategy.

http://forum.gsplayers.com/showthread.php?t=36893&highlight=shelter

In all seriousness I would just put the dog down. Timing sucks but really just need to face that even if you shell out the money the dogs going to be old and recovering from surgery and miserable.

[Sean of the Thread]

Keep it away from Tamral and my neighborhood.

Sorry about the bad news best of luck.

[Jahira]

Sorry to hear about your dog. Losing a long-time pet is never easy.

[Jorddyn]

All I can say is don't worry so much about the timing. It's always hard to lose a pet - regardless of when. If it happens just before Christmas, you'll at least have a day or two off to grieve and your family nearby (assuming that you like them and you're seeing them).

[TheRoseLady]

Shari,

We had to put one of our cats down in August. In March her lab levels were fine, in August they were off the charts. One day she was fine, the next she couldn't stand up. We rushed her to the vet and learned that she had kidney cancer and likely had cancer in her spine which caused her right leg to not work anymore.

After we found out that there was not going to be any real recovery, the vet said she could try and get her levels down, but it wasn't going to cure the cancer...and would prolong the inevitable...we decided to send her to a better place.

I hope all goes well for you.

[Sean of the Thread]

Well aside from dog somehow escaping (girls in and out probably) and my kitten making a dash out the door oh and someone breaking into my house 7 years ago and letting out my dog only to be shot by the deputy.

Oh nevermind I've failed at pets too. Thankfully my rich neighbor took a shine to my black cat reno when he got sick and paid for all his medical care. He has seizures and shit something I think they called "kitty aids" ?

[Methais]

I'd wait and see what the vet has to say about it. If it's something that can mostly fix him and you just can't afford it, I wouldn't put the dog down. If the dog's gonna be miserable for the rest of his life no matter what the vet does, then yeah I'd say go ahead and do it even though it will suck massive balls.

If the dog's only whining and stuff when he has to go outside because he can't get up, but acts fine otherwise, I'd just suck it up and do whatever I had to do to help him when he goes outside. I'm not implying that you're being like, "Well I can't be bothered with the inconvenience so I'll just put him down." or anything, just saying what I'd do in that situation.

So yeah....if his only real problem is when he has to go outside and doesn't seem to care otherwise, just help him when he has to go, and enjoy what years he has left together.

I know I'm gonna be a huge pussy when my dogs' time comes. My basset hound turns 9 in April, and I'm already sad even though nothing's wrong with her. But she's considered a "senior" now, and that sucks enough for me.



Oh nevermind I've failed at pets too. Thankfully my rich neighbor took a shine to my black cat reno when he got sick and paid for all his medical care. He has seizures and shit something I think they called "kitty aids" ?

<insert stereotype here>

[Shari]

Thank you everyone first for the advice.

We took him to the vet. They thought it was a slipped disk at first but after xrays they determined he likely had a tumor in his brain or spine. Our options were pay $3000 for an MRI or Catscan to see where its at, and then god knows how much for the surgery.

He couldn't move. And the dog is so well trained he would never go to the bathroom in the house. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a bladder infection from holding it these past few days, poor guy.

We made the decision to have him put down. It was the worst decision I've ever had to make. I feel like I'm at fault for it, because he wasn't in pain. Talking on here helps but I can't help but feel like he was looking at me like, "I'm fine except I can't move." I didn't think it was fair that he was unable to use the bathroom (even when we'd put him outside he wouldn't "go" because he was laying down and didn't want to mess on himself).

He lived a really good life. In fact, we adopted him from a no-kill shelter, which had rescued him from the pound because he was on the list to be put down. So in effect - we had saved him for 12 years. But I still feel like shit. Worst. Christmas. Ever.

[Jorddyn]

I'm so very very sorry, Shari. The loss of such a good companion is difficult, I'm know.

[Sean of the Thread]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say my Christmas is worse. But I think you did the right thing and you'll feel better about soon.

Pet grief sucks and it takes time.

[CrystalTears]

I'm truly sorry, Shari.

Deciding to put a pet down is horrible, and there's always a pang of guilty because you wonder if you did the right thing or decided prematurely. However keep in mind that he can't talk or tell you how he feels, so he may have been suffering more than he could obviously let on.

Don't feel bad and keep in mind that you did the right thing for everyone. There's no sense in keeping him alive just for your sake in order to prolong the inevitable. Remember the great times you had together and eventually the memories will help ease the pain.

After losing two animals on one month, I know how awful it is. It will get better.

[Mighty Nikkisaurus]

Thank you everyone first for the advice.

We took him to the vet. They thought it was a slipped disk at first but after xrays they determined he likely had a tumor in his brain or spine. Our options were pay $3000 for an MRI or Catscan to see where its at, and then god knows how much for the surgery.

He couldn't move. And the dog is so well trained he would never go to the bathroom in the house. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a bladder infection from holding it these past few days, poor guy.

We made the decision to have him put down. It was the worst decision I've ever had to make. I feel like I'm at fault for it, because he wasn't in pain. Talking on here helps but I can't help but feel like he was looking at me like, "I'm fine except I can't move." I didn't think it was fair that he was unable to use the bathroom (even when we'd put him outside he wouldn't "go" because he was laying down and didn't want to mess on himself).

He lived a really good life. In fact, we adopted him from a no-kill shelter, which had rescued him from the pound because he was on the list to be put down. So in effect - we had saved him for 12 years. But I still feel like shit. Worst. Christmas. Ever.

:hug2:

It's not just a matter of pain, but quality of life. His quality of life was effectively taken away-- not only could he not move, but he wouldn't be able to get food, go to the bathroom, etc. I think you did the right thing-- instead of letting him languish around until it got to the painful point, you gave him a quick way out and got to say your goodbyes and all that.

I know how hard it is to lose a pet.. I take the death of any pets of mine very hard as do I think a lot of people (even if they wouldn't admit it). You just have to trust that you did the right thing, and focus on the happy times until things get easier.

[Sean of the Thread]

I think my girls being upset about the pet troubles we've had were harder for me. I hate to see them that crushed but now I'm glad I came clean to them about the kitten.

One stuck a leaf in his grave and the other put a poohbear figurine.

[DCSL]

I'm so sorry, Shari. That's such an incredibly hard decision to make and very painful. But one of the other posters is right, at least you'll have family near by to console you a little since it's a holiday. And knowing that he had a good life because of you and your intervention helps too, right?

[Clove]

Thank you everyone first for the advice.Sorry to hear about that Shari, keep in mind that you gave him more time than he could have had without you. Sometimes it helps to consider that it is often the disease that decides the outcome, not you. You provided love, care and ultimately mercy.

I hope you have a better Christmas.

[diethx]

I'm really sorry Shari, losing a pet can be just as bad as long a family member. And right now you feel guilty, but it could be so much worse and you were lucky you were able to end your dog's pain before it got worse.

We had a rabbit for several years, and we didn't know that he wasn't eating because he had always flipped his food bowl over and ate it out of the wood chips in his cage. Turns out he was having some sort of bowel obstruction that's common in rabbits, and he was in pain (agony) for days but didn't show it. By the time we realized something was wrong, we rushed him to the vet but he died on the table. And apparently it was a very painful way to die. I felt extremely guilty for a long time afterwards for not knowing and doing something to alleviate it (like putting him down).

Sometimes shit like this happens and there isn't much you can do. But just know that you gave him 12 long years of love and happiness, and he was one of the lucky ones.

[Izzy]

Shari -

As painful as losing a pet is, you've got to keep it in mind that quality of life is such a huge part of actually living and if your pet doesn't have it...it's ok to help them out. My cat just passed away last week at 16 years old, but for the last several (4+ I'd say, I haven't been home most of this time) years his life has consisted of sleeping on my heated water bed for 23.5 hours a day, spending the other half hour eating/peeing as necessary. He had arthritis in his spine that made it difficult for him to walk anywhere. As awesome a cat as he was, there has been more than one occasion that I wished we had put him down. Sometimes life isn't worth living, and it's better for them if you can let go.


I'm going to go out on a limb here and say my Christmas is worse...
Generally I find your attention whoring fairly amusing and entertainment-providing, but come on man. This isn't your goddamned thread to QQ in. You've got 50 other threads you can do that in, this is Shari's.

[MotleyCrew]

So sorry for your loss, its the worst kind of decisions we have to make in life.

May you always walk
with the spirit of your
beloved pet by your side
And may the memories
keep your heart warm.

[Tisket]

I'm so sorry. And even if he wasn't in pain, it is a form of suffering if an animal can't do the things he normally does.